Plan Your Oscar Party With Our Recipe Blowout: 9 Themed Menus

I knew going into it that a movie directed by Quentin Tarantino was going to be difficult to plan a menu around. It's a given that a lot of people are going to die, but it's quite a challenge to come up with a menu that revolves around blood and murder without choosing dishes like blood pudding.

What kind of menu do you serve where slaves are treated horribly and killed in disgustingly torturous fashions simply because their owners whimsically decide they want them dead? It seems insulting and in my view, bigoted, to plan a menu based around the meals a plantation owner in Mississippi might choose to eat. But I'm going to do it anyway. Without giving away a real spoiler, I think the idea of a flaming dessert redeems the menu in a glorious fashion.

In years past, the only appropriate food for a Ben Affleck flick were Golden Raspberries. With this movie, Canadian, Iranian or traditional American foods wouldn't be out of place at all.

I also could have gone with food popular during the late seventies. My mom used to make a delicious version of rumaki, or bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. I was usually banished from the kitchen when she made these, because I once ate half of a pan all by myself. But then I also remember that the era was known for Hamburger Helper, Rice-A-Roni and that horrible atrocity known as alfalfa sprouts.

Since Argo is essentially a movie about a movie, why not serve traditional movie food? No, I'm not going to give you recipes for fake butter flavoring for your popcorn or explain how to get your nacho cheese sauce the perfect shade of bright orange. We're going to gussy it up a bit.

I'm so looking forward to seeing Ben back on the red carpet with his wife, Matt Damon. I wonder what designer Matt will pick?

Image: Rolo Cookies courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod

Rum and Coke, preferably in a 32-ounce refillable paper cup (because I can't be the only one that's snuck rum into a movie theatre before)

When the main character is named Hushpuppy, the menu becomes obvious. Quvenzhané Wallis, who plays the role of Hushpuppy, is such a force of nature that it would be insult not to include hushpuppies, which I like to refer to as savory cake doughnuts.

There are various things you could serve with the hushpuppies that are related to this movie. Fish is one of them, but that seems like the obvious choice. Alligator is another possibility, but the idea of that takes me out of the southern bayou and back to Knoxville on a University of Florida versus University of Tennessee game day. Suck it, Gators!

Besides, what better food to celebrate the movie than crabs? If you're really cool you'll eat them "beast" style. However, I'd suggest not getting up on the table, screaming, and flexing your muscles unless you're dining at home. Why have pecan pie as the dessert? Because it's Southern and delicious.

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